The distinctive blue panelling is now in place around almost all the building and excitement is building that the Swedish furniture store could open early, Devon Live reports.

An aerial view of the new IKEA store in Exeter (Image: Neale Abbott/aeroplaneviews)

A spokesperson for the store said on Thursday, however: "The exterior is coming along but as you can imagine there is also a lot of things to go inside the store so the opening date is still set for early summer 2018."

The work started in May and is taking place around the clock between Newcourt Way and the A379 near the M5 in Exeter to meet the current scheduled opening date of early summer 2018.